Catholic Churches of NCC includes: Saint Patrick Parish Seneca WI; Saint Philip Parish Rolling Ground WI; Saint Mary Parish Gays Mills WI; St James Cemetery Rising Sun WI; Kneeland Cemetery Seneca WI catholicchurchesofncc.com

All Souls Day                                                        November 2, 2025

St. Mary, St. Patrick, St. Philip Parishes

Mail address for all three parishes:   PO Box 35, Seneca WI 54654

Website: https://www.catholicchurchesofncc.com

Confessions: Normally, 30 minutes before every

Mass and by appointment.

Normal Monthly Eucharistic Adoration:

St. Patrick: First Friday after the 8:30 AM Mass

St. Philip: First Sunday after the 10:30 AM Mass

Mass Intentions This Week

Pastor: Fr. Tom Huff – frtomhuff@gmail.com St. Patrick's Rectory 608-734-3252

Bookkeeper: Angie Martin -- 608-734-3931 stpatricks.seneca.bookkeeper@gmail.com

Bulletin/Mass Intentions/Membership: Yvonne Hady -- 608 485-2109 hadyy@mwt.net

Bulletin Information Deadline: Tuesdays at 4:00 PM. Bulletin is posted on our website.

UPCOMING PARISH EVENTS

Wed., Nov. 5^th Adult Faith Study at St. Mary’s, 7:00 PM

Income from Last Week

From the Priest’s Corner:

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

The commemoration of All the Faithful Departed is one of the most consoling days of the Church’s year. We celebrate both Christ’s offer to us to share in His resurrection as well as a moment to recognize our own sinfulness and mortality. In our busy lives we can sometimes forget these realities and the effects of sin on our eternal life. We may even begin to dwell so much on the here and now that reflection on the next life becomes non-existent. However, this mental separation between our life here and hereafter clouds our understand of the Catholic Faith we profess. This commemoration reminds us that the Church extends beyond this life into eternity; one Church with members in heaven, on earth and in purgatory.

Death often has a strange effect on people. More times than not, we believe that we should never speak ill of the dead, goes the saying goes. And we go even further attempting to conceal death itself in some way or another. The reality of death is made ‘more pleasant’ by the body being prepared to look as if the person is still alive. Even funerals are becoming mere celebrations of a person’s life, removing any considerations about their life after death. We speak of a person's past excluding the reality of their present situation.

This commemoration however, is the Church's way to help us be honest about death. We are to recall that our friends and relatives who have died, and those many others we never knew, were capable of sinning. We recognize this because we know it is true of ourselves. This realization, though, should not lead us to discouragement or despair. For as Christians we believe in the forgiveness of sins for those who are repentant and God's abundant mercy; that at death, life is changed not ended.

The holy souls in purgatory wait to be purified and to share in the fullness of our Lord's resurrection. These souls share in our longing as we share in theirs. The bonds that united us on earth continue to unite us. And the source of those bonds is the love of God, which unites all the members of the Church. We pray for the dead not only because it is our duty, but also because it is part of what defines us as Christians. We pray for a reconciliation between the holy souls in purgatory and their Creator.

In the silence of prayer, we ought to recall frequently the mercy of God, and the need for our sins to washed away through repentance and conversion. The prayers of the Church on earth, united with the prayers of the Saints in heaven, embrace the holy souls of our brothers and sisters. Our hope is not unreal, our prayers are not solitary or unheard, the Church is not separated by time and space, but is one in Christ. The commemoration of the holy souls in purgatory should renew in us an understanding of both our own mortality and the unity of Christ’s Church here on earth, in heaven and in purgatory. This commemoration should also confirm in us a sure and certain hope in the resurrection.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

May they rest in peace. Amen.

All Souls Day Intentions: Please turn in your All Souls Intentions as soon as possible. There are special envelopes in your offering boxes, or you can place them in a regular envelope marked “All Souls.” Any money donated will be combined to determine the number of All Souls Masses for the next year; you do not have to donate any specific amount. Checks should be made out to “Stipend Account.”

St. Philip Announcements:

St. Philip Candles: Contact Bonnie Murphy. The cost is $5 per candle.

Food Pantry items are needed. Please leave any gift at the rear of the Church.

St. Mary Announcements:

Rosary – 30 minutes before Mass -- St. Mary’s Church is open each day from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. You are welcome to stop in to pray and/or light a candle for your special intention.

First Sunday Potluck – Potluck brunch after Mass each first Sunday of the month. All are welcome, dish to share is appreciated, but not required. Next potluck is Sunday, Nov. 2^nd.

Knights of Columbus Invitation:

You are invited to put your faith in action! The Knights of Columbus are having a recruitment drive. This will be for the council in Seneca. Contact Gregory Helgersen, Field Agent – 608-462-3372 or gregory.helgersen@kofc.com

DIVINE MERCY IN MY SOUL--- St. Faustina writes: “Those who love Me will keep My word, and My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make Our home with them.” And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, …the Spirit of truth. …You know Him, because He abides with you, and He will be in you.” (John 14:23, 16-17)

Tri-Parish Prayer List – We want to pray for the ill and others in our parishes who need ongoing prayer. To be placed on or to place someone on our prayer list, please call: Sue Peterson 608-735-4865, Bonnie Murphy 608-386-4954, or Ica Boylen 608-734-3287.

Looking Ahead:

Saturday, November 22 -- Hunter's Mass 7pm at St. Philip’s

Usual 7pm Saturday Mass at St. Patrick’s

Thursday, November 27 -- Thanksgiving Day Mass -- 8:30am at St. Philip’s

-- 8:30am at St. Patrick’s

Sun., Nov. 2 Turn Clocks BACK 1 hour               

All Saints’ Day

All Saints’ Day, which began most likely as All Martyrs’ Day, can be traced to the earliest Christians. By the third century, the followers of Christ were annually honoring their brothers and sisters who had given their lives (been martyred) while witnessing for and defending Jesus Christ. Typically, on the anniversary of a martyr’s death, those living would gather to remember and offer prayers at the tomb or place where the deceased had died. Tombs were sometimes decorated and altars built over the tomb. “From the third century the anniversary of a martyr’s death, called his ‘birthday,’ was commemorated at his grave by a celebration”. The belief among the first Christians, which continues today, is that believers who died defending Christ were borne by angels to heaven and are face to face with the living God, in the presence of the beatific vision.

In those first centuries, especially during the savage reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305), there were more and more Christians who accepted death at the hands of the Romans rather than deny Christ, rather than worship false gods or the personage of the emperor. Additionally, others who had publicly confessed their Christian faith (confessors) and somehow survived the Romans were also honored. Thus the number of martyrs and confessors became greater than the opportunities to give each one an anniversary celebration, and the need for a common feast day was recognized. By the fifth century there is evidence of locations, such as in Antioch, where the fledgling Church had set aside the first Sunday following Pentecost to collectively honor these holy and courageous people.

NOTE: All Saints Day is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation this year as it falls on a Saturday

All Souls’ Day

Offering prayers for those who have died is ancient in origin. In the Old Testament’s Second Book of Maccabees, written around 100 B.C., Judas Maccabeus orders his army to pray and offer sacrifices on behalf of their fallen comrades. Tombs found in the Roman catacombs are inscribed with prayer requests for the deceased. The second-century Christian writer Tertullian wrote in an essay about a woman praying for her deceased spouse: “Indeed she prays for his soul and asks that he may, while waiting, find rest; and that he may share in the first resurrection. And each year, on the anniversary of his death, she offers the sacrifice.”

The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, or All Souls’ Day, evolved onto the Church calendar long after All Saints’ Day. Sometime between 998 and 1030, St. Odilo, the abbot at the Benedictine Monastery in Cluny, France, encouraged all the monks to pray for the souls of those who had died, those waiting the joys of heaven. He instituted this commemoration on the day after All Saints’ Day, and soon other religious orders and churches began, on that same date, to annually remember all who had died. Remembering and praying for the faithful departed is tied directly to our belief in a place of purification, which we Catholics call purgatory.

On All Souls’ Day the universal Church prays for all those holy souls in purgatory, people who were much like us, whose offense may have been less than ours. By praying for them, we ourselves are reminded to lead better lives. On that day, and during the entire month of November, we remember our departed brethren when we pass by or visit a cemetery where they are buried, attain indulgences for them, give alms, do some good work, ask for Masses to be said in remembrance of our deceased loved ones and those who have no one to pray for them. We also light candles, and in some parishes the faithful display pictures of their deceased loved ones in the church.